{"id":13543,"date":"2020-05-27T00:20:39","date_gmt":"2020-05-27T06:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=13543"},"modified":"2020-05-27T00:20:39","modified_gmt":"2020-05-27T06:20:39","slug":"valley-doors-half-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/27\/valley-doors-half-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Valley Doors Half Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cancellations, changes and outlooks on the summer of 2020<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Eric Valentine<\/p>\n

\"\"
Pristine air and world-class golf may be what saves the local economy from freefall.
Photo credit: Sun Valley Resort<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Memorial Day has come and gone. Typically, that means the launch of summer events in resort towns like these. But the summer of 2020 figures to be nothing but atypical. From individuals trying to keep their families safe to businesses trying to stay afloat to local governments trying to budget the rest of the fiscal year and beyond, if you feel like you\u2019re in limbo, you are hardly alone.<\/p>\n

What follows is a look into the outlook some in the Valley are having toward summer 2020.<\/p>\n

TBD<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b>The most pervasive part of the COVID pandemic and lockdown impact is the not-knowing. If you never used the acronym for To Be Determined (TBD), you\u2019ve probably used it by now. From Sun Valley Resort\u2019s annual meeting of the minds (the Allen & Company event) to Hailey\u2019s Days of the Old West Rodeo, a number of events have been cancelled outright. Others have been pushed back until fall, and a few postponed indefinitely.<\/p>\n

An efficient way to keep track of what\u2019s happening and what\u2019s not is visiting Visit Sun Valley online. VisitSunValley.com is a one-stop shop for finding out the status of your desired event or establishment. On its homepage you\u2019ll find more than just the standard FAQs. You\u2019ll find a Valley-wide list of events\u2014the ones still going on and the ones changed or cancelled, too. What\u2019s more, the website has a \u201cComplete List of Business Openings, Closures & Amendments\u201d link that takes you to a categorized and color-coded spreadsheet that provides open\/close updates and links to webpages and contact information for restaurants, organizations, and more.<\/p>\n

Positively Selling<\/b><\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s marketing spin or 100 percent sincere remains to be seen, but during a crisis, cautious optimism is key. And that\u2019s what you get when you talk to folks like Ketchum Mayor Neil Bradshaw or Sun Valley Resort spokesperson Bridget Higgins.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt our core, this will always be a place to enjoy the outdoors and the recreational opportunities that it offers. We need to go back to basics in the branding of this town and what nature provided us in the first place. Sun and open space are the perfect antidotes to an epidemic, and we have both in abundance,\u201d Bradshaw states in his letter to the public titled Back to Basics on Budget and Branding.<\/p>\n

Ketchum, like many cities and counties, faces a budget shortfall for this year and the next. Specifically in Ketchum, it\u2019s triggering the city council to eliminate discretionary spending and focus just on city essentials, such as police and fire, roadwork, and other infrastructure. Although Bradshaw feels there is widespread support for the pocket fastening, he acknowledged there were some pushing for at least a wait-and-see approach to the popular summer events the city helps fund. After all, by June 1, the state will likely approve a move into Phase 3 of the reopening, which allows for gatherings of more than 50 people under certain circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what if we get a spike in cases in July? An event might be planned for September, but we have to write the checks now,\u201d Bradshaw explained.<\/p>\n

And even if the public health status does allow for the large events, Bradshaw says, \u201cCities are not in the business of taking risk. Spending discretionary money when there\u2019s a pandemic and a budget shortfall just isn\u2019t financially responsible. These are public dollars we\u2019re talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over at privately owned and operated Sun Valley Resort, where out-of-town visitors will be allowed to book rooms starting on Saturday, activities are steadily returning and running smoothly, according to Higgins. She said they are not yet at full staff, but will continue to ramp up as the economy and the resort are able to open up more.<\/p>\n

Like Bradshaw, Higgins sees opportunity in the dilemma.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are so fortunate to have open space. There\u2019s golf. There\u2019s trails. We\u2019re in the right place to weather this storm,\u201d Higgins said.<\/p>\n

The resort is also offering extended stay credits and other discount packages to people who book now, Higgins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a challenge for hotels, but overall the Valley economy will be OK,\u201d Bradshaw noted. \u201cIt\u2019s anecdotal and not every second-home owner is the same, but I know personally of people who typically stay here for two to three weeks who may now be staying for two to three months because they can\u2019t plan the trip to Europe for example.\u201d<\/p>\n

New marketing tagline idea: The Wood River Valley\u2014the best staycation on Earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cancellations, changes and outlooks on the summer of 2020 By Eric Valentine Memorial Day has come and gone. Typically, that means the launch of summer events in resort towns like these. But the summer of 2020 figures to be nothing but atypical. From individuals trying to keep their families safe to businesses trying to stay […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13546,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,3,18,36],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13543","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community","8":"category-covid-19","9":"category-news","10":"category-slider"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}